Buying in bulk

How long will my hops last in the freezer?

Quite a while. Either invest in some mylar ziplock bags or in a vacuum pack system and they'll last a long time.

That depends on your brewing.

I keep mine in Ball canning jars purged with CO2 and in the freezer. I usually use 'em within a year and don't notice any fading.

I've seen a chart before, maybe someone would be kind enough to post it?

I use food saver vacume bags and they keep great in the freezer. I usually use mine up within a year or so though.

How do you go about purging your jars?

Nothing too high tech. I just attach a racking cane to my CO2 reg, and stick it down in the jar with the hops and open the valve. This flows CO2 from the bottom up. After a few seconds I just pull the tube out and place the lid on the jar. Probably overkill but those hops are green gold to me.

I thats a really good idea. I may have to do this myself!

waddsworth said:

Nothing too high tech. I just attach a racking cane to my CO2 reg, and stick it down in the jar with the hops and open the valve. This flows CO2 from the bottom up. After a few seconds I just pull the tube out and place the lid on the jar. Probably overkill but those hops are green gold to me.

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I store my bulk grain close to the same way except I use 5 gal buckets and beer gas.

tszetela said:

I store my bulk grain close to the same way except I use 5 gal buckets and beer gas.

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That's a waste of money.

I've had hops still good over a year by just throwing the open bag back in the freezer. I roll it up but it unrolls. I am not advocating this, but just saying they are not going to go bad in a short amount of time if not vacuum sealed. IPA came out great with those hops. I just stick to freezer ziploc bags and squish all the air out and seal it. I brew too much for anything else. Don't want to invest in a vacuum sealer since it's a long and not worth it to me. If the hops went bad quickly, I would.

Bulk grain gets stored in large plastic containers. I put weather stripping along the top so it seals better.

z987k said:

That's a waste of money.

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OK Why? I get a 5 lb tank filled for $10 and it uses very little gas for each bucket. It pushes out the O2 and mositure and leaves inert dry air. (I purged 8 buckets, force carb'd and drove 3 kegs and I still have gas in the tank) And considering the price I pay in bulk for grains is 1/3 of the LHBS I buy enough grain for a year (or more considering how little I have been able to brew since the 3rd and 4th kid got here!) So as waste of money goes, I think that it does not compare to my "Five-Liter Mini-Keg PHILTAP" that I have used once in 8 years!

I store my grain in plastic buckets and buy enough for a year. As long as it isn't crushed it will keep for over a year. He meant it was a waste of money because it isn't needed. He over exaggerated the money as its probably less than a nickel of gas.

tszetela said:

OK Why? I get a 5 lb tank filled for $10 and it uses very little gas for each bucket. It pushes out the O2 and mositure and leaves inert dry air. (I purged 8 buckets, force carb'd and drove 3 kegs and I still have gas in the tank) And considering the price I pay in bulk for grains is 1/3 of the LHBS I buy enough grain for a year (or more considering how little I have been able to brew since the 3rd and 4th kid got here!) So as waste of money goes, I think that it does not compare to my "Five-Liter Mini-Keg PHILTAP" that I have used once in 8 years!

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It's beyond unnecessary. Unless you plan on keeping that grain for over a century, it'll be fine if you just keep it dry. You think farmers are out there purging O2 out of the grain silos?